Reunion
by Yel Ashaya
Summary: Dogs are man's best friend, but what is a Vulcan's? This is post Into Darkness. Please R&R. Disclaimer: Star Trek isn't mine, I'm just playing.


_Captain's log: star date 5348.4. We have been called to address a situation on the class 'M' planet Vulcan II, which is one of the many planets colonised by the Vulcans who escaped Nero's planet destroyer. The local residents have hailed us asking for assistance during this disturbance. I plan to dispatch a landing party immediately. _

Captain James T. Kirk strode onto the bridge and was greeted by his second in command.

"Captain, do you request a landing party to be dispatched?" asked Spock.

"Yes, Spock. You, and I will beam down to the surface."

"I do advise you to prepare for the extreme heat, captain." Spock reminded him.

"There's no need to worry, Bones gave me something to mask the heat". Kirk reassured his first officer.

Once they reached the engine room, Kirk and Spock greeted chief engineer Montgomery Scott and made their way to the transporter platform.

"Energise." Kirk ordered Scotty and he obeyed.

Kirk and Spock's outlines sparkled into existence, standing out against the harsh, red, desert background of the new, colonised Vulcan home world. They were greeted by the Vulcan Science Academy building, that looked out of place in this otherwise barren place. This was the new science academy that the vulcans had built on their new home planet, Vulcan II, after their planet was destroyed in an act of revenge by the Romulan, Nero.

"Any idea where we are, Spock?" The captain asked him.

"We are very close to the new city of ShiKahr, but our exact coordinates are here," Spock replied, before showing Kirk his tricorder.

They walked for what must not have been more than 10 minutes when they came across the location of the distress signal. It wasn't a building, or an establishment of any sort; it was a cave. A hollowed out section of a reddish brown mountain with a ceiling height of about 12 feet. It was big enough for a grown man to stand up inside.

When Kirk and Spock entered, they did not like what they saw; about 20 worried looking Vulcans were sitting on makeshift rugs surrounding a black furry lump. A red liquid was slowly seeping out of the poor creature's side.

"We were called to investigate a disturbance here," Kirk began.

"We have hailed your ship for what we must only describe as an unfortunate circumstance. I am called T'Preea." A female Vulcan who looked as though she was in her late twenties, but was probably older, filled Kirk in.

"Can I see?" Kirk asked, referring to the pathetic creature slowly slipping away from life. He was half worried and half curious. Spock had still not yet spoken.

"You may," T'Preea said.

"Spock," Kirk whispered as quietly as he could and still be audibly over the beast's heavy panting, "these are unlike any other Vulcans I have met before."

Spock spoke for the first time since entering the cave. "They are primitive, in comparison with many other humanoid cultures. They were rescued from a Vulcan colony, following a failed attempt by Vulcans to colonise Phlios IV. This was as an attempt to revive the Vulcan civilisation, after Nero. The temperature appeared to be adequate, but mere months after they had settled, an ice age set in and the extreme temperatures had strange effects on their minds. The extreme cold seemed to reverse the aspects of Kolinahr. Not too far that all logic was lost, but far enough that most of their social skills were lost."

"So that's why they seem so..." Kirk searched for the right word, "lost".

"Indeed, captain."

"What exactly is the reason for your hail?" Kirk addressed no one in particular.

Again, it was the young female Vulcan, T'Preea, who answered." We found this creature, a sehlat, wounded. We do not know what is wrong."

"Sehlat?" Kirk was confused.

"Yes, captain. A domesticated Sehlat is a popular pet among Vulcan children."

"Did you have one?" Asked kirk.

"Yes. It was called I-Cheya." Spock replied to his captain.

For a while, it was silent, then the wounded sehlat let out a long high pitched sound; pain. A cry for help.

"I-Cheya..." Spock said.

"What?" Kirk asked him.

"I-Cheya..." Spock repeated. "You're here."

"What?" Kirk asked again, becoming more an more confused.

"I-Cheya, captain, she is here."

"What? That creature on the floor is your sehlat?"

"Yes." Spock moved forward the 20 or so feet toward the panting animal and knelt beside it. He felt a warm substance tricking down his cheek, he was crying. The Vulcans who were sat around the wounded sehlat instinctively knew that Spock wanted some privacy with his beloved pet, so they got up and shuffled further back.

Kirk crept closer to his friend. "Spock...?" He was concerned.

"I am..." He paused for a short while, "fine. There is no need for you to express concern. It is, however, appreciated."

"No, Spock." Kirk knelt beside his comrade. "She needs medical attention. We must beam Dr McCoy over immediately."

"That would not be wise, captain. The doctor cannot bring all the necessities he requires for seeing to a complicated creature like a sehlat."

"Well, then we must beam the sehlat over."

"But what of health and safety regulations and Star Fleet directives?" Spock asked, his eyes still transfixed on his suffering pet's body.

"To hell with that!" Kirk declared. He flipped open his communicator. "Kirk to Enterprise."

"Bridge here." Scotty replied.

"Beam us aboard, immediately."

"Aye, aye, captain." Scott obeyed.

Once again, Kirk and Spock's outlines shimmered into view, but this time a huge Vulcan beast materialised behind them.

"Captain Kirk to Dr McCoy." Came his voice over the communicator.

"McCoy here." Came the chief medical officer's voice.

"Report to sickbay immediately."

"On my way, sir."

"Jim! Are you mad? You can't put this oversized fleabag into a secure medical environment!" Bones was clearly infuriated with the sehlat being in sickbay. "I'm a doctor not a vet!"

"Perhaps, it is best to remove I-Cheya, as the doctor is obviously uncomfortable with her presence here." Spock suggested. He gave no emotions away, but you could see the pain he felt in his eyes.

"Uncomfortable?!" McCoy asked, almost shouting. "It's a health hazard, you're putting all the patients' lives at risk."

Jim looked around, there was no in the beds,"Uh, Bones? Do you see anyone here?"

McCoy looked annoyed and had better things to do, but he begrudgingly he accepted.

Kirk walked closer to the doctor and said, "Thank you, this means a lot to him," then nodded in Spock's direction who was petting his sehlat's head.

"Right. We're gonna need lieutenant Mclaren. She is our leading biologist, specialising in mammals in particular." McCoy stated.

Moments later Mclaren hurried into the room,"Doctor?" She asked, wearily.

"Lieutenant." Mccoy replied. "Do you know what this creature is?" He asked, gesturing to I-Cheya.

"Yes, it is called a sehlat. As a child, a Vulcan..." she was cut off by the chief medical officer.

"Yes, thank you, lieutenant, for the history lesson." Bones said.

Kirk and Spock had left sickbay, due to Spock's insistence that he did not require a leave of absence and his wishing to continue his work on the bridge. Although McCoy was a human doctor, his medical experience was near first rate in other cultures.

"I once delivered a Klingon baby, " Bones boasted to the lieutenant.

"I am sure you have, but right now, all that matters is the first officer's dying pet."

"It is not going to die, I would not give Spock the pleasure of experiencing rage on my behalf."

"Very well, shall we operate now?"

"Yes."

"How is she?" Kirk asked his friend, the chief medical officer.

"Yes, Doctor, is her condition satisfactory?" Spock asked as well.

"He is fine." McCoy replied, a hint of a smile glinting in his eye.

"I-Cheya! You're alright!" Although Spock did not like to express his emotions, this was one of the few times he let his guard down. Again, he felt that strange liquid on his cheek. He was crying, but not tears of sadness, tears of joy. He delivered a broad smile and hugged Dr Mccoy and Jim Kirk simultaneously. "Thank you." He said.

"You're welcome." McCoy smiled to him, after pausing for a while to catch his breath after Spock's tight hug.

"Spock," started Kirk, "you must realise that you can't have I-Cheya with you on the ship."

"I know, captain. I should like to request permission for shore leave to my new home planet of Vulcan II for me to spend some time with I-Cheya." Asked Spock.

"Of course."

With that, Spock made his way to the transporter room, and walked his domesticated sehlat there with him, receiving some very odd looks from his fellow crewmen.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?!" Asked Scotty.

"She is my pet," replied Spock.

Open-mouthed, Scotty activated the transporter and beamed Spock down to the Vulcan colony, along with his 'pet'.

"What about that failed Vulcan colony?" Asked McCoy.

"A state of the art educational programme is being run, so the individuals afflicted can be treated appropriately and effectively and then can live their lives as normal." Kirk said.

"I knew that pointy-eared hobgoblin had feelings." Said McCoy, and he and Kirk laughed.


End file.
